Playing on seven NHL teams in 10 years can mean many things – one of which can be that the results haven't gone well consistently enough in your favor.

You get called a journeyman by some. And a few times every season, someone who was playing on perhaps their final opportunity on their final NHL team manages to pull their career back from the brink of being over. 

That's what we’re seeing right now with defenseman Troy Stecher and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After bouncing between five teams since 2021-22, Stecher couldn't get things right with the Edmonton Oilers for the past year-and-a-bit, recording nine points in 79 games across parts of three seasons.

When the Oilers put Stecher on waivers in mid-November, there were no guarantees he'd be claimed by any team. At 31 years old, Stecher was looking at an uncertain NHL future at best. But no matter where he ended up, he needed to make the most of his opportunity.

This is what Stecher has been doing since the Maple Leafs claimed him on Nov. 15. In the 10 games that have followed, Stecher has averaged 20:00 of ice time and recorded a plus-9 rating. If that had been all Stecher did, the injury-ravaged Leafs would've still been happy with that.

But wait, it gets better: Stecher added a goal and three points, which came in a three-game span. And Toronto coach Craig Berube is rewarding Stecher's impact with some of the highest-usage games of his career, giving Stecher at least 23 minutes of ice time in each of his past five games.

Playing mostly as a pair with veteran Jake McCabe, Stecher has been enough of a revelation to the point you have to wonder why the Oilers couldn't make it work with him. That's not entirely fair to Edmonton, and it takes away Stecher's own role in bouncing around the league. But it's hard not to root for someone who is at the edge of the waterfall and manages to steer his dream away from ending.

"He and McCabe look like they have instant chemistry right now, which is great," Berube told reporters on Dec. 3. "They are moving the puck extremely well. When you talk about pace, Stecher plays with pace out there. He closes on people, he skates, and he gets up the ice. He is doing a lot of good things."

Stecher doesn't have to light the league on fire to keep his job with the Maple Leafs. Even with veteran Chris Tanev getting closer to returning, the Leafs will be without veteran Brandon Carlo well past the holidays. They'll need Stecher at least until then. And while it could fall apart for Stecher in short order, his recent play has bought him some time to still call the NHL his home.

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